


Come Home

by gonta_gokuhara_lover



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Apologies, Canon Related, Concussions, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Older Armin Arlert, Older Eren Yeager, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29960193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gonta_gokuhara_lover/pseuds/gonta_gokuhara_lover
Summary: Armin asks Eren to come home .
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	Come Home

**Author's Note:**

> On a roll with this stuff . Anyway it can be interpreted as Eremin but it isn't exactly that , so ... You know .

" You're scaring me , Eren . "

The words Armin had spoke so long ago nearly split his skull into pieces . They'd long since parted ways , but he remembers every interaction they'd had . Armin's trembling as he launched himself over the table to punch him in the face . 

The day he couldn't handle his hair anymore and cut it in a fit of a distress so intense that no one mentioned it for days for fear that the stress would make his heart stopped . Armin never seemed to calm down anymore , always searching for the next question to answer because the moment he gets left alone with himself he gets dangerous . 

Titan marks aren't the only scars that litter his skin anymore . When they were kids ~~they still are children how did it end up like this when did they get here Eren doesn't want this anymore~~ Armin always stuck behind , faring better in logistics than he ever did on the field . 

He remembers Mikasa telling him about the first time Armin ever had to kill anyone . The blonde didn't eat for weeks ~~the weakness is laughable~~ and no one was really sure if they'd ever get him back . 

~~They didn't .~~

Eren remembers it so clearly because this is the so called last stand of Paradis . Levi , Mikasa , Hange are all lingering somewhere around , he knows . They'd never send Armin by himself unless they were trying to get him killed . And yet , it is Armin alone that stands in front of him . 

He has no ~~visible~~ weapons . After all , he has an extreme distaste for carrying them around when he doesn't need to ~~Eren knows about the gun in his boot because he's the one who taught him to put it there~~ and he looks nervous as he ever has . 

He never quite learned how not to display all of his emotions on his face . 

" Eren , " He starts , his hands laced together to keep them from shaking ~~Eren can see them shaking anyway~~ and it looks practiced . He's practiced this speech he's about to give and Eren nearly rolls his eyes about the earful he's about to get -

" Come home . "

Eren blinks . 

Armin looks at him with sad eyes . The marks underneath them feel like an accusation on Eren's behalf , and in some capacity he knows that they are . 

" Please . "

Eren's throat feels dry . He can't run away from this . Can't hide it somewhere deep inside so he doesn't have to deal with it anymore - Not when he's standing right in front of it ~~not when it's Armin~~ and he can't dissociate far enough away to not feel anything .

" You know I can't do that , " He tries . After all , he's pretty sure that no matter where he goes he's going to be under persecution . Eren doesn't want to live his life in a cage . Isn't that why he's doing all of this anyway ? How could he double back on everything he's done now , when there's no option left but to continue forward ? ~~When his guilt would be too unbearable to look anyone in the eyes again~~

" You can . Everyone wants you home . Where have you gone ? "

Oh . 

So that's what this is . 

How stupid of him to think it was an actual invitation instead of a chastisement about who he is now . 

" I'm right here , " He says , with maybe a little more bite than intended . ~~He sees Armin flinch .~~

Eren can't bring himself to feel guilty about it . For a moment he had truly believed that they wanted him back , as he is . That even though he's royally fucked everything up and so many have died in his name , that they wanted him . Armin always managed to make things sound convincing . 

But this is just an elabourate plot to pacify him by asking for a past self that doesn't exist anymore . ~~It does , and it screams in his head every day .~~ He should have known . How stupid of him . Stupid , stupid , stupid . 

" Go away , Armin , " He says . The blonde's face is making him angry . Violent , maybe even . 

" I'm not going to do that . "

" Okay . "

And then a fist collides with a jaw , and Eren is on top of Armin and his fist keeps colliding with bones and Armin is still underneath him and for a moment he thinks he's killed him and he keeps hitting and then he realizes that Armin

isn't

fighting him back

And he's just taking it . 

Eren stares at him . 

Armin stares back . 

Blood drips from his nose and split lip . His face is split with tears from the sheer impact force of the hand against his face . 

Eren wonders why no one has come to save him yet . He knows they're watching . He knows he knows he knows . 

" Why haven't I been shot at yet ? Wasn't that the point ? To have an excuse to wipe me out ? "

It's an accusation . Armin flinches at it harder than he flinched from getting hit . 

" There's no one else here . "

Liar . Eren hits him again . 

" It's just me and you . "

Oh , how Eren wishes that were the truth . If only . In some perfect world , maybe that could have been the case . But it isn't . Armin's face is making him angry again . 

He hits him again . 

Armin coughs on blood pooling in the back of his throat , dripping down from his nose . Eren keeps him on his back in the hopes that he'll choke on it . 

" Please , Eren . I'm not going to fight you . I'm not armed , " And Eren hears the next part of the sentence without it being said . ' And I'm not strong enough to take you on my own . '

It's true . But Eren reaches for Armin's boot anyway , aiming to pull the weapon he knows for sure is ther

It 

Isn't there

And Armin was telling him the truth . 

He blinks . 

Armin looks paler than he should , and his eyes are drooping a little bit . He'd been beaten against the floor , after all . Looks like a concussion . 

" Armin . "

" Eren , " Comes a voice that doesn't sound real . Softer than Eren wants it to be . 

" Don't give me that . You're not dying , " He says , convincing himself more than Armin . 

" I know . Sorry . "

The apology is not what he wants . 

Eren stands , and hauls Armin up with him . Seems like the blonde is too dizzy to stand properly without falling over . Eren swallows the guilt about it all . Distances himself from it again . As he always does . He's gotten pretty good at that . 

" Come home , " The voice on his shoulder asks . 

Come home . 

" I miss you . "

I miss you . 

" I want to be friends . "

Eren shakes a little bit . They aren't friends anymore . That's right . They're on opposite sides . How did that happen ? How did he let it get to this point ? Armin's words cut through him so easily you'd think that his tongue was a knife . 

" I'm sorry , Armin . "


End file.
